Sirach 38:1-15
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Concerning Physicians and Health
38 Honor physicians for their services,
for the Lord created them,(A)
2 for their gift of healing comes from the Most High,
and they are rewarded by the king.
3 The skill of physicians makes them distinguished,
and in the presence of the great they are admired.
4 The Lord created medicines out of the earth,
and the sensible will not despise them.(B)
5 Was not water made sweet with a tree
in order that its[a] power might be known?(C)
6 And he gave skill to human beings
that he[b] might be glorified in his marvelous works.
7 By them the physician[c] heals and takes away pain;(D)
8 the pharmacist makes a mixture from them.
God’s[d] works will never be finished,
and from him health spreads over all the earth.
9 My child, when you are ill, do not delay,
but pray to the Lord, and he will heal you.(E)
10 Give up your faults and direct your hands rightly,
and cleanse your heart from all sin.(F)
11 Offer a sweet-smelling sacrifice and a memorial portion of choice flour,
and pour oil on your offering, as much as you can afford.[e](G)
12 Then give physicians their place, for the Lord created them;
do not let them leave you, for you need them.(H)
13 There may come a time when recovery lies in the hands of physicians,[f]
14 for they, too, pray to the Lord
that he grant them success in diagnosis[g]
and in healing, for the sake of preserving life.
15 Those who sin against their Maker
will be defiant toward the physician.[h](I)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.